The NHS provides a comprehensive service, available to all

"It is available to all irrespective of gender, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, belief, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity or marital or civil partnership status. The service is designed to improve, prevent, diagnose and treat both physical and mental health problems with equal regard. It has a duty to each and every individual that it serves and must respect their human rights. At the same time, it has a wider social duty to promote equality through the services it provides and to pay particular attention to groups or sections of society where improvements in health and life expectancy are not keeping pace with the rest of the population." (The NHS Constitution for England, Oct 2015)

We hope that what you read about our approach, gives you a sense of our work and reassurance of how strongly we feel about promoting equality and challenging discrimination, so that no one is left behind and can be the best they can be.

It has been developed to meet our legal obligations; to deliver positive outcomes, reflect the diversity of our population and staff; take account of feedback from our stakeholders, local people and our staff. It covers the nine characteristics under the Equality Act 2010: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, gender/sex and sexual orientation.

Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (DHCFT) is committed to fairness, inclusion, personalisation and most importantly improving service user experiences of care and putting people at the centre of decision making. We recognise how important it is to respect people’s dignity and basic rights and we will act responsibly in fulfilling our obligations and pledges set out in the NHS Constitution, Equality Act 2010 and Human Rights Act 1998.

Within our context there is the added stigma associated with mental health problems. This is unacceptable and we want to prevent this from happening and to promote a more compassionate and equal place to work for and receive care from.

We believe:

Human rights are rights that every human being automatically qualities for at birth and cannot be denied simply because of who they are and the things they can’t change about themselves. Central to the concept of human rights is the protection of human dignity.

Inclusion is the overarching strand encompassing, equality, diversity and human rights that focuses on individuals and groups which may feel or are excluded from the services and employment opportunities provided by NHS organisations. Exclusion is when people or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems such as unemployment, discrimination, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime, bad health and family breakdown leading them to being excluded from the services and opportunities enjoyed by those in the political, economic and social mainstream of society (Government Social Exclusion Unit 2004).

Promoting equality refers to the inclusion and equitable treatment of protected groups and a need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations within communities (Equality Act 2010).

Diversity for us is recognising that our service receivers, workforce, their representatives, carers, governors and communities are made of many different social groups with cross cutting basis for identity e.g. Age; Disability; Gender Reassignment; Marriage and Civil Partnership; Pregnancy and Maternity; Race; Religion or Belief; Sex and Sexual Orientation. We also recognise that diversity brings with it strength and opportunities to help us be a better organisation.

We will achieve this by

Changing the culture and approach through strong and committed leadership.

Accountable governance and enforceable action plans that demonstrate progress - ensuring our systems and processes and the way we work delivers equality and reduces discrimination.

Equality Act 2010 compliance and setting out our equality objectives.

Implementing the national equality framework, called the Equality Delivery System (EDS) to drive up equality performance and embed equality into our mainstream business. By participating in the EDS2, organisations will be able to deliver on the requirements of the Equality Act, and they will put themselves in a good position to deliver positive outcomes for service users, carers, communities and staff in line with the Governments priorities for the NHS.

Derbyshire Healthcare signs Armed Forces Covenant

Derbyshire Healthcare publicly demonstrated its support of the Armed Forces Community by signing the Armed Forces Covenant on 28 March 2018. Through signing the pledge the Trust commits to support all current and former serving armed forces personnel who have contact with the Trust whether as patients, staff, carers or the general public.

The Covenant outlines the following pledges:

No member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of healthcare services compared to any other citizen

In some circumstances special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved

Promoting the fact that we are an armed forces-friendly organisation

Seeking to support the employment of veterans and working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) and Military Step into Health programme, in order to establish a tailored employment pathway for Service Leavers

Striving to provide support services for Service spouses and partners; endeavouring to offer a degree of flexibility in granting special leave before, during and after a partner’s deployment

Supporting our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve Forces, including by accommodating their training and deployment where possible

Offering support, where possible, through our Health Ambassadors programme to our local cadet units, either in our local community or in local schools

Seeking to support employees who are cadet force adult volunteers

Aiming to support Armed Forces Day and actively demonstrating our support to the armed forces through promotion at Trust-run events

Ifti Majid, Chief Executive and Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Jenkins, Commanding Officer of 162 Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps, signed the declaration at the Trust’s public meeting of its Board of Directors. They were also joined by Trust colleagues Helen Raisbeck and Catherine Parker who currently provide services to veterans and one of the Trust’s Appointed Governors, Paula Holt, who served as an Army Officer for eight years, heading up mental health services for Forces personnel and their families.

More than 2000 public and private sector organisations across the UK have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and many of them are in the East Midlands. To find out more about the Armed Forces Covenant visit www.armedforcescovenant.gov.uk

To read more about the Trust’s signing of the Armed Forces Covenant, please see latest news